Holly Roberts (b. 1951) is a New Mexico mixed media artist who combines photography and paint. After working as a curator at the Tamarind Institute in the 1970s and earning her MFA from Arizona State University, she lived on the Zuni Indian Reservation, where she developed her painted photographs while raising two daughters. Her career gained momentum after the Friends of Photography published a monograph of her work. Roberts later worked in Chicago before returning to New Mexico, where she continues her studio practice, teaches workshops nationwide, and lives in Corrales. Her work is held in numerous U.S. museum collections.

From the mid-1980s to 2003, Roberts created black-and-white photographs, physically collaged them, and painted over them with oil, a process that brought her wide recognition. In 2004, she reversed this approach, using digital photographs layered over acrylic paint, later developing abstract, dreamlike landscapes as a base for her imagery.

Roberts’ imagery is shaped by her lifelong connection to the American Southwest and by explorations of human emotion, cultural history, and relationships. Animals often appear as emotional symbols, giving her work a strong psychological dimension. Her work blends the literal and the imaginative, using layered narratives, allegory, and humor to explore themes of mortality, spirituality, longing, and humanity.